Unable to connect to work VPN

[Sophie1912]

 

Well there is currently one attached to my package so they must have re-introduced them. Coinsidently if it a new promotional addition and now this issue is happening to new and existing customers it would indicate to me that it's the potential culprit. 

[TimmyBGood]

@Sophie1912 

If you didn't knowingly download and install a McAfee software bundle several years ago then it's not relevant (and you should check you aren't paying for any such thing)

McAfee is local antivirus/malware protection: it's not an upstream filtering product.  There's no new promotion, as the 'broken management tool' message would probably indicate.

[Sophie1912]

I only became a Sky customer on 17th September. I previously used BT Broadband and had no issues with my VPN connection. The only difference with my set up is Broadband shield which I have turned off and Mcafee. I don't pay for a subscription, it's part of my package. 

[TimmyBGood]

@Sophie1912 

If you have a white Max Hub then there's a substantial upstream difference in the way broadband is being delivered.

[Wellyboot29]

Cannot connect to the VPN again today. Getting sick of this.

[Crystal8]

I'm the same and have been unable to connect to a VPN since this started. Unfortunately, Sky don't seem to care. I have spent many hours on the phone to them without a resolution. I have no choice but to change providers as soon as my contract is up. 

[Wellyboot29]

Sky's inability to realise they've done something to cause this is frustrating. I have worked from home for over a year with no issues until July/August. It's been a nightmare since then.

[Wellyboot29]

I have managed to connect but it is now 9.38 and I started work at 9. It's taken a full reboot of the router, turning the laptop off three times and trying the VPN around 50 times until the Authenticator prompt finally came through to connect me. It is a joke.

[skriz]

I AGREE A COMPLETE JOKE!

I have been unable to connect to my office VPN for nearly 2 weeks from Sky fibre broadband installation, during this time I have been in touch with SKY technical team, filed a complaint and spoken to numerous operatives. I have never encountered such problems previously with any broadband provider including Virgin Media. 

Apparently my case has been escalated since last week, but I am still awaiting my phone call from the Sky team that can reassure me of the situation. I did receive a text message to say that the issue has been resolved, however, how can Sky know the issue is resolved without having contacted the customer to check the connection status? - and NO the issue is NOT resolved

If anyone is checking this forum ahead of subscribing to Sky services, I would strongly advise not to subscribe, it has caused me nothing but enormous amounts of stress trying to communicate with the company, also a huge waste of my time including this write up, not to mention the loss of income and cost in travel I have suffered from not being able to connect to my workplace!

[Wellyboot29]

And here we go again, cannot connect to the VPN via Sky Broadband. This service is a joke - I have to hotspot to my O2 mobile and then connect to the VPN before reverting back to Sky Wi-Fi. 

I will be switching to a new provider as soon as this contract is up - this is the only provider who seems to have issues. Our IT department report that only Sky users have these issues and that Sky seem to be making no attempt whatsoever to resolve it.

[Wellyboot29]

Same again this morning. Only way around it is to hotspot to my phone, connect to the VPN, authenticate with the app, then reconnect to the wifi. And Sky Support keep insisting there's nothing wrong - really? How can they not explain the complete drop off on speed recently too... it may have something to do with Virgin putting fibre in along the road... suddenly Sky's speed has gone from 37mb to 22mb.

[Chrisee]

@Wellyboot29 the intermittent failurecof connection is strange there is a known issue with the white Sky Max hub and some business VPNs but that stops the connection rather than giving variable results and dos not affect the black Sky hubs if you have one of those. Disabking IP6 certainly wont help indeed it could make things worse. Have you changed any other settings on the hub? 

Regarding the slow down in speeds have you run the service checker in the My Sky app? Thst regularly measure speeds to your hub and if it falls below the guarantee for your line then it should offer further help although getting Openreach to do anything about under performing copper lines isnt easy.

One last point is your laptop or PC connected by wifi? Flaky wifi coukd explain both the speed and vpn issues as loss of a packet can cause the connection to drop. I am sure you have checked tgat yourself but in case you haven't improving connection tomthe hub by using an ethernet cable is worth a try.

[Wellyboot29]

The last advice I received from Sky told me to turn disable IP6 on the hub and the shield, which I have done. I don't have the white Sky Max, just the older black hub. It is completely intermittent and unreliable, a real pain if I am honest. I didn't any issues for months then I believe an update was pushed to the hub last year and it's been a pain ever since. Our IT department have reported the only other people having these issues are with Sky Broadband and it stacks up, as if I go to my parents house and use VM it works immediately, same in the office where it is BT. That's how I've been getting around the authentication issue, using my EE phone (personal) or O2 phone (work) data as hotspots.